MONTGOMERY — A teacher in the Montgomery-Lonsdale School District has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a former student and player for the girls high school teams he has been coaching.

Troy Michael Bernard, 35, was arrested at the district’s high school, where he was supervising open gym, just after 8 p.m. Tuesday. He was charged in Le Sueur County District Court with first-degree criminal sexual conduct Wednesday and remained jailed Wednesday.

He’s accused of sexually assaulting a girl several times since she was 14 years old, including once in a storage room on school grounds.

It was not clear Wednesday if Bernard would be allowed to return to teaching and coaching at the school. Ray Farwell, school district superintendent, did not return several phone calls to his house and office Wednesday afternoon and evening.

The mother of the victim was contacted by David Tietz, a Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Department investigator, after he learned about the allegations against Bernard from county child protection workers. Tietz interviewed the mother, who told him her daughter had been a student of Bernard, who is currently a fifth grade teacher, and was a member of the track and volleyball teams he coaches.

Tietz met with the girl’s mother at the Montgomery Police Department on May 31. She said she had known about a sexual relationship between Bernard and her daughter since the night of May 5. Her daughter had been gone jogging for more than an hour and a half and the mother became suspicious after she found text messages from Bernard on her daughter’s cell phone, the criminal complaint said.

One of the messages allegedly told the girl to go to his house to get ready because he would be there. The girl told her mother she had gone to Bernard’s house to feed his dog when she returned home.

The mother said she continued to question her daughter because she was suspicious. The girl, who is 15 years old, told her she had been having oral sex with Bernard for about four months, then later said she first had sexual intercourse with Bernard during the city’s Kolacky Days festival in July 2006. She was 14 years old at that time.

After getting the information from her daughter, the mother said she confronted Bernard. She reported he told her he had been talking to her daughter and that led to a sexual relationship.

With investigators listening in, the mother made calls to Bernard on May 31 and June 4. During those calls, Bernard allegedly said he would be willing to meet with the mother and discuss the issue, said he didn’t know why condoms weren’t used every time and that he hadn’t had sex with the girl since early May, the criminal complaint said.

The mother arranged to meet Bernard at the high school Tuesday after he was done supervising the school’s open gym session from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Bernard was arrested by Tietz when he walked out of the school at about 8:10 p.m.

Bernard’s bail was set at a $100,000 bond or $10,000 cash during Wednesday’s court hearing. His first appearance for the charge was set for June 19, said Jason Moran, assistant Le Sueur County attorney.

“The possibility exists that there are other victims,” he said.

Anyone with information should call the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Department at (507) 357-4440 and ask to speak to Tietz, Moran added.